What Have We Learned From Hasbro At Star Wars Celebration Orlando 2017?

During Star Wars Celebration Orlando we stopped by the Hasbro booth several times to get new information about their up-coming Star Wars action figure lines. You can read all the info gathered, combined with the announcements during the Hasbro panel, below.

The Black Series 6"

- The Black Series packaging style and the red/black color theme will continue in the fall (after seeing the San Diego Comic Con Luke's Landspeeder on display with orange on the packaging we thought the theme might change, but this is not the case.)

- Because there won't be an update to the packaging theme, the numbering on the side and the back of the packaging will continue

- Hasbro still has no plans to release display stands for their 6" Black Series line, they prefer to spend their budget on improving the figures with more elaborte paint opps

- The peg holes in the 6" figures had different sizes during the first 3 years, this has been standardized so that fans can buy stands from third parties which will work moving forward

- Every new 6" figure released in vintage packaging will be released in the basic Black Series line (Vader legacy pack, Death Squad Commander, Jawa etc...)

- Hasbro has no plans to release more vintage-style figures in the 6" line, only the original 12 which have been shown, plus the Star Wars Celebration exclusive Luke Skywalker (X-Wing Pilot) and the Gamestop excl. R5-D4 astromech droid

- There will be two different Landspeeders in the 6" line, a regular release and a San Diego Comic Con exclusive

- The San Diego Comic Con exclusive Landspeeder will come in different packaging, it will have a different paint deco on the vehicle and it will have added details and movable parts which the regular release will not have

- The Black Series Landspeeder will be numbered #02, Rey's Speeder is likely #03 (the Tie Fighter Special Forces vehicle was #01)

- Farmboy Luke Skywalker, which is packed in with the Landspeeder, has a new head sculpt

- The Black Series Landspeeder will be available at regular retail stores on September 1st, 2017 (Force Friday II)

- The Black Series Rey which is packed-in with Rey's Speeder is a new sculpt, she will be able to crouch forward so that she fits nicely onto the speeder

- Rey's Speeder has many removable panels, it was inspired by the cut-away books which show the interior of vehicles

- Rey's staff fits into a spot on the side of Rey's speeder, the net is removable

- Hasbro has many other vehicles planned to go with the 6" figures, but they didn't reveal which ones

- The Black Series 6" Grand Admiral Thrawn will be released in the basic line-up, but he will also be released as a San Diego Comic Con exclusive with different packaging and different accessories

- Gamestop will have an exclusive Tie Fighter Pilot in the Black Series 6" line-up of figures which is from the new Star Wars Battlefront game

- Last year's Fans Choice Poll winner Jaina Solo was sculpted after Han Solo and Princess Leia. The sculptors first added Han Solo's facial features to the figure, and used Leia's eyes to morph both into Jaina Solo's look

- Jaina Solo's vest is removable so that the figure can go from pilot to warrior, a first in The Black Series 6" line-up of figures

- The Black Series 6" Commander Gree will be available exclusively at Toys'R'Us and retail for $24.99

- Governor Tarkin will be released as a 6" figure in the Black Series. Tarkin doesn't carry a blaster or any other accessories so Hasbro decided to include an interrogation droid

- UPDATE: Hasbro has reached out to let us know that Tarkin will be released in Spring 2018

3.75" Star Wars Figures

- The 3.75" The Vintage Collection will return in Spring 2018 AND you can vote right now on JediBusiness.com and several other fan sites who you'd like to see next in this line-up

- The Vintage Collection will be available everywhere, it will not be exclusive to just one retailer

- The first figure revealed in The Vintage Collection was Rey (the figure will be a re-release of the Walmart excl. 3.75" Rey figure from 2015 -> this figure was voted #1 for 2015 in Hasbro's line-up of 3.75" figures here on JediBusiness.com!)

- Word has it that the last wave of Rogue One figures which includes Admiral Raddus will be tough to get, make sure to order it online once it becomes available

Star Wars Forces Of Destiny

- Star Wars Forces of Destiny is a new initiative celebrating the inspiring stories of iconic heroes from across the Star Wars universe. An original micro-series of animated shorts (each 2-3 minutes in length) will explore exciting, all new adventures of key characters including Rey, Jyn Erso, Sabine Wren, Princess Leia, Ahsoka Tano and others. Hasbro will support this initiative with a new line of Star Wars toys, the figures stand about 11" tall and are a fusion between traditional dolls and action figures

- The figures shown included Rey with lightsaber, blaster and BB-8, Princess Leia (Hoth Outfit) with a blaster and R2-D2, Sabine Wren with 2 blasters and a removable helmet, Chewbacca with bowcaster, Jyn Erso with baton and blaster, Luke Skywalker (Bespin Outfit) with lightsaber, blaster and Master Yoda and Princess Leia (Endor Gear) with blaster, removable helmet and Wicket and Ahsoka Tano with 2 lightsabers and a Loath Cat

And that's it! Hasbro surprised everybody with the announcement of the return of the 3.75" The Vintage Collection and that it will indeed be the main line available everywhere. The only disappointment was the lack of images of the up-coming The Force Awakens Luke Skywalker in both, the 3.75" and 6" scales (the figures were already announced by Steve Evans almost one year ago on Toy Run - The Star Wars Action Figure Cast). But since we know they are both coming that's not a big deal.